You Can't Run
by LynnE0911
Summary: Aria runs away from Rosewood and all her problems to live with her grandmother in New Salem. Crossover between PLL and Secret Circle books. AU takes place somewhere in season 3 of PLL, no Cassie from Secret Circle
1. Chapter 1

I knew that I was bailing on my friends. I knew that running away from Rosewood and A wouldn't solve the problem. I didn't care. I was tired and needed to get away. I didn't let my friends know I was leaving, which was a coward move on my part. I snuck away in the middle of the night like a bandit fleeing the scene of the crime. I looked over my shoulder driving out of Rosewood, waiting for something to happen, For A to try and stop me, nothing happened. Maybe she wanted me gone…

I drove the entire 7 hours and 20 minutes to my grandmother's house in New Salem, Massachusetts without stopping. I was exhausted when I finally arrived on my Grandma Blake's doorstep. She looked startled when she opened the door to find me standing there. "Aria?" she said with her frail voice, "what on earth are you doing here?"

"It's a long story grandma," I told her with a heavy sigh, "can I just come in and rest first?"

My grandmother let me in without another word. She ushered me to one of the five bedrooms in her house and instructed me to lie down. She told me that she would call my mother and explain that I was safe and that we would all work everything out in the morning. I was more than grateful she didn't ask any more questions. I fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow and had the strangest dream. I was floating down the hallway and could hear my grandmother talking to my mother on the phone. "Well I certainly don't know what's going on with her, Ella. I just know that she is here now, when she is needed most. It's best you just let her stay. I'll enroll her tomorrow. Yes, yes, I will make sure she calls you when she wakes up. But for now, allow her to stay. It might be good for her."

When I woke up in the morning, I had a foggy memory of that dream. I went downstairs into the kitchen to find my grandmother making breakfast. "Oh, you don't have to do that," I told her "I can make my own." She made a tut sound with her mouth and continued making breakfast. "I think you should call your mother," she told me as I sat at the table. "She is worried about you." I grabbed my phone out of my purse and saw that I had 17 unread text messages; 3 from Spencer asking where I was all day, 4 from Emily (also concerned), about 8 from Hannah (very angry texts at first, then obvious worry, one from Ezra (making sure that she was ok), and the last one read, "WHEN THE CAT'S AWAY THE MICE WILL PLAY. – A"

I froze when reading the last message, _what does that mean? Will A go after my family now? Or does it mean that A has no idea where I am and is going to focus on Hannah, Spencer and Emily now? _I composed myself quickly. _I had come all the way here to not have to worry about A for a little while. That is exactly what I am going to do!_

I called my mother and told her that I needed a break from Rosewood. That after Mona was put in Radley for harassing me and my friends, Maya being murdered and someone digging up Ally's body; I was on the verge of breaking down myself. I couldn't tell her about the new and improved A that was a million times more terrifying than Mona, or about how I broke up with Ezra after he came back to work at Rosewood. She said that she understood. I was shocked that my mom caved that easily. She told me that I could stay with my grandmother for a while but that I needed to continue my education. "I guess I could look into getting into some classes online," I suggested. "No, Aria, your grandmother will get you into New Salem High School." My mother said in a voice which meant there was no arguing. "Now, you can stay there and attend high school, or you can come home now. The choice is yours." I knew that she was angry with me. I sighed and said, "Ok, I'll go to this school." Our conversation ended quickly. I knew my mom would be upset that I'd just taken off like that, but she sounded as though she was scared of something. ..


	2. Chapter 2

Monday morning came more quickly than I had liked. The last thing I was interested in was attending a new school, but this was the compromise I had made with my family and I was not ready to face returning to Rosewood just yet. My mother had sent me some clothes through overnight UPS so I was attempting to put together an outfit when my phone rang. I checked the screen: HANNA. I hit ignore and put the phone on silent in my top dresser drawer. I knew that I was being a complete coward, but I was not ready to face talking to my friends. I had abandoned ship. All I wanted was to disappear, and in this new school, that is what I was planning on doing.

I decided that a plain white tank top, skinny jeans, a black hoodie and my red converse high tops was a low key, neutral outfit for my new school. I was hoping to blend in as easily as possible. The school was an impressively large brick building that gave me a sense of anxiety almost immediately. _It's just a school, _I told myself. I walked into the front hallway and located my first class, Advanced English.

I took a seat near the back, took out a notebook and a pen. My classmates were shuffling around greeting each other; I just slumped down in my seat and began to doodle on my notebook. "You're new aren't you?"

The guy in front of me had turned around. He had a nice friendly smile, but was also somewhat stunning. I had a feeling he knew just how stunning it was. He had curly brown hair and he looked as though he would be very tall when he stood.

"You're new," he said again.

"Yes," I said with an air of detachment, "today is my first day."

"I'm Jeffery Lovejoy," he said.

"Oh," I said trying to cut him off at just that. I looked back down to my notebook in way that was supposed to give this guy the hint that I didn't care to talk anymore.

"Captain of the basketball team," he said dipping his head down so that he could make eye contact with me.

I looked up at him, "I'm really happy for you," I said in my best Spencer Hastings sarcastic voice.

Before he could respond to me, I felt a shadow fall over me. I was aware all at once of a presence at my side and I looked up, somewhat wide-eyed. A girl was standing there, the most striking girl I'd ever seen. She was tall and voluptuous with a long mane of jet black hair and porcelain skin that glowed with confidence. "Hello Jeffery," she said.

"Faye," Jeffery's voice was noticeably unenthusiastic, "hi."

The girl leaned over him and said, "Where've you been?"

"Around," he responded and I notice his body was very tense now.

She leaned in closer; her exposed skin was right at our eye level. But it was her face that I couldn't help staring at. She had full pouty lips and extraordinary honey colored eyes that glowed almost golden. I was so mesmerized by her entire presence that I hadn't notice the conversation had continued. Jeffery was telling her something about taking some other girl to the movies (Sally?)

"Well, you'll just have to tell Sally that something came up," Faye said heaving her considerable chest as she straightened back up. "You can pick me up at seven on Saturday night."

Jeffery seemed about to protest when she said, "and don't be late. I hate it when boys are late."

She turned to go and seemed to think better of it; she turned on her heel and looked me in the eyes. "Oh, and by the way," she lifted her hand and pointed right at me, "_she's_ from Crowhaven Road too."

Jeffery's jaw dropped. He stared at me for a moment with a look of shock and uneasiness, and then he turned around to face the front of the room.

_What the hell?! Ok, so I don't want to make friends. Not really anyway. But why on earth does it matter where I live?! _

I was in shock as I walked out of the classroom. Something very strange was happening here. I reached into my bag for my phone; I had to run this by Spencer. That's when I remembered, my phone is at home, and I ran away from Spencer and my friends like a total deserter.


End file.
